Closing Keynote with Nonkululeko Nyembezi

There are currently 800 million people without access to energy in the world, 80% of them are in Africa. This lack of energy stifles economic growth and development. There are several reasons why access to energy remains a challenge across Africa – insufficient generation capacity, poor transmission and distribution infrastructure, lack of affordability and inadequate regulation. This panel seeks to discuss how the public and private sector can work together to solve Africa’s energy crisis.

There is a lack of focused discourse highlighting innovation in exceptional talent identification and development in Africa. There is an urgent need to harness/unlock the potential of Africa’s demographic dividend by way of its youthful population. This panel will seek to learn from a diverse set of entrepreneurs at the forefront of reimagining how we educate the world’s youngest population. We will explore how for- and non-profit models face incredible opportunities and challenges as they scale across borders on the continent.

The conversation on intra-Africa trade has been dominated by the recently implemented game-changing African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and its potential to position the region as the fastest growing in the world. This discussion will broaden the conversation and unpack the AfCFTA for what it is – a legal instrument to enhance intra-Africa trade – and what we can realistically expect from the agreement, in the context of existing regional economic networks and other trade instruments already in effect. The discussion will seek to address questions such as how Africa can unlock potential by building more viable regional value chains, how countries can overcome infrastructural differences impeding trade, and how payment innovation must align to facilitate cross-border exchange. Underpinning these reforms is the critical role of financing to not only bridge the infrastructure and investment gaps, but also offset the revenues generated by existing trade barriers. Lastly, the role of the private sector cannot be understated. The discussion will highlight the dual role the private sector has to play, both as traders and agents of innovation.